“IF you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today…” (Deuteronomy 28:1).

That’s a big IF…

God’s promises are overwhelming. He has vowed to enrich your life here and now, beyond imagination… IF…

The condition is significant. And when you dare read the second section of Deuteronomy 28 you will see the dark side – the horror – that happens IF (that is WHEN)we fail to “fully obey.” The bad news: not one of us can claim to have met this condition “fully.” As a result, we know we don’t deserve abundance, and that doubt dulls our faith to believe God will answer these prayers.

So we hedge and protect ourselves with caution.

You know what I mean. We’ve all blushed at the thought of asking and expecting big things from God. But expecting is exactly how we must pray. The good news: Jesus has met this IF condition. “He has fully obeyed… all his commands” and can claim to deserve the blessings. Further good news: Jesus gives us his same position. On the cross he took our failure to obey as his curse and gave us his holiness as our blessing. That’s an amazing deal!

Today, again pray through Deuteronomy 28 – the text from yesterday. This time, read it with Jesus in mind. Ask him to take each specific blessing and hand it to you. He will do this if you ask.

Mark and Jill Herringshaw

Mark and Jill Herringshaw and their four children have been ministering in their local church since 1990. Jill is an accomplished worship leader and recording artist with several CDs in Target stores’ “Lifescapes” collection. Mark is the former pastor of the 7,000 member North Heights Lutheran Church. He holds a Ph.D. in leadership from Regent University, is the author of three books and a recognized conference speaker.